Wire-fabric-making machine.



A, L. KITSELMAN WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904. 925,639. Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NonRls PETERS co., WASHINGTON, n. c.

A. L. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 1mm 11.1904.

Patented June 22, 1909.

17 BHEBT8-SHBET 2.

aw gm rm: NORRIS PETERS cm, wAsumawN. b. c.

A. L. KITSELMAN.

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

Pat ented- June 22, 1909'.

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1m:- NORRIS Fz'rmzs co.. WASHINGTQNIIDAQ A. L. KITSELMAN.

WIRE FABRIG MAKING MAGHINB.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

A. L. KITSELMAN.

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904. 925, 39,Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SEMI 6.

v THE NORRIS Psrsns cm, WASHINGTON n c A. L. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRICMAKING MAGHINB.

APPLICATION FILED mm 11, 1904 925,639. Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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A. L. K ITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHBETS-SHEET 7.

.5 A. il l 1 UN- ai Ev A. L. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILED JUNE 11, 1904. 925,639, Patented June 22, 1909.

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Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

1n: NORRIS PETERS cc.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

A. L; KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

- Patented June 22, 1909.

I7 SHEETS-SHEET 10.

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Patented June '22, 1909.

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A. L. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904. 925,639.

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A. L. KITSBLMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MAGHINE.

I I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

925,639, Patented June22, 1909.

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A.- L. KITSE LMAN.

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

925,639. Patented June 22,1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 1'3.

A. L. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED Jun 11, 1904.

925,639, Patented June 22,1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 14.

- witness as rm: Nome s PETERS :0, wnsmuarou, n. c.

A. KITSELMAN. WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 111904.

- Patented June 22,1909.

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A. L. KITSELMAN.

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

A-PPLIOATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

Patented June 22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 16.

A. L. KITSELMAN.

WIRE FABRIC MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1904.

Patented June22, 1909.

17 SHEETS-SHEET 17.

a filial/LAX WM nuirn srA ALVA L. KITSELMAN, OF MUNOIE, INDIANA.

WIRE-FABRIC-MAKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'Patented June 22, 1909.

Application filed June 11, 1904. Serial No. 212,195.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVA L. K1TsELMAN,a citizen of the United States,residing at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful V ire-Fabric-Making Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a wire fabric making machine designed withspecial reference to the manufacture of what is known as square meshfabric, but embodying novel features possessing distinct utility in themanufacture of other styles of fabric and capable, in fact, of effectiveuse in machines of analogous character, for instance, those employed forthe manufacture of barbed wire.

The primary object of the invention is to produce a machine theoperation of which will be continuous, certain of the wires being fedforward without interruption and the fabric completed during the transitthereof.

Another object is to produce a continuously operating machine of maximumproductive capacity requiring a minimum expenditure of power andobviating the necessity for the employment of parts operating at highspeed or involving retractile or other lost movements.

Another object is to provide for the continuous feed of the line wiresin cooperative relation with a rotary weaving drum equipped with theentire weaving mechanism required to effect the completion of the fabricas the drum and line wires advance in unison.

Still another object of the invention is to provide for the continuousadvance of line wires around a continuously rotating weaving drumequipped with devices arranged to apply stay wires to the line wires, atprede termined intervals, without interruption of the feed, thearrangement of the parts being such that, while different styles offabric may be constructed, that is to say, fabric having a greater orless number of stay wires in a given length, the operating speed and theproductive capacity of the machine will, nevertheless, be uniform underall conditions.

Still another object of the invention is to avoid the use of travelingbobbins necessitating the employment of more or less complicatedoperating mechanism, by providing, in a continuously operating machine,instrumentalities for simultaneously producing coinciding loops in aseries of traveling line wires and for passing through said loops a staywire arranged to be intertwisted with the line wires by the strainimposed upon the fabric.

Another object is to incorporate in the machine structure a weaving drumequipped, as stated, with line wire looping means and means for feedingthe stay wires through the loops, and in addition to such means,instrumentalities for severing the stay wires to form the stays, and fortwisting the ends of the stays around the margin wires of the fabric bycontinuously recurring operations, accomplished automatically, andwithout interruption in the production of .the fabric.

Another object of the invention is to effect a local acceleration of theline wire feed in order to produce sufficient slack or surplus in saidwires to compensate for the looping and twisting thereof.

Another object is to equip the machine with means for crimping themargin wires in a manner to accommodate the drawing out or lengtheningof the fabric incidental to the intertwisting of the line and stay wiresby the strain exerted on the fabric.

A further object of the invention is to so group the entire assemblageof devices contributing to the production of the fabric, that they maybe mounted incompact form in a single rotatingstructure, and that theentire fabric making or weaving mechanism may be operated by the advanceof the fabric from the weaving mechanism to the storing device or reeland with only a slightly greater expenditure ofpower than is necessaryto draw out the loops in the line wires for the purpose of intertwistingthe line and stay wires at their points of intersection.

Subordinate to the general objects stated,

are others which will be made apparent during the course of thesucceeding descriptron of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure 1' is a plan view of my completemachine with the exception of one of the supports for the drum shaft.Fig. 2 is'a side. elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a similar view ofthe opposite side. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on the line H: ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line of the drumshaft. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the upper side of the drum on asomewhat enlarged scale and showing certain of the parts broken away.Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of one group of mechanism including linewire loopers, stay wire feeding, cutting and deflecting devices, andstay wire twisters. Fig. 8 is a transverse section. of the drum withcertain of the parts omitted, and designed more particularly to show onecircumferential series of line wire loopers and the means for rotatingthe same. Fig. 9 is another sectional view of the drum with certain ofthe parts omitted and illustrating more particularly the mechanism forreciproeating the hooks of the line wire loopers. Fig. 10 is an endelevation of the drum with parts removed, and showing more especiallythe gates and the means for operating the same to close the guidegrooves or channels for the stay wires. Fig. 11 is asectional viewdesigned to further illustrate the same subject-matter. Figs. 12 to 17inclusive are end views of a line wire looper shown in progressivepositions beginning with the initial positions of the parts and endingwith the parts in the same positions, but at the end of a cycle ofmovement, the wire being shown in each of the several views as itappears at the succeeding points in the operation of forming a loop.Fig. .17 is a detail View showing the intertwist of a line and stay wireafter the loop in the line wire has been drawn out. Figs. 18 to 23inclusive are sectional elevations of the outer end of a line wirelooper, the parts being shown in posi tions corresponding to those shownin Figs. 12 to 17 inclusive. Fig. 24 is a diagrammatic view showing thearrangement of a series of line wire loopers and the cam forreciprocating the same, the several loopers being shown in the positionsthey assume at different points of their travel around the axis of thedrum. Fig. 25 is another diagrammatic View of a series of loopers intheir proper positions with respect to their individual axial movement.Fig. 25 is a detail view of a connecting twist as it ap pears after theline and stay wires have left a looper at the completion of itsfunction. Fig. 26 is a detail View of the cam for effecting the changesof position of the loopers as delineated in Fig. 25. Fig. 27 is atransverse sectional elevation of the drum, in tended to show a seriesof stay wire feeders located at one end of the drum and omitting thatseries of twisters located at the same end of the drum for twisting thestay wires fed from the other set of feeders. Fig. 28 is a sectionalelevation similar to Fig. 27, but showing the series of twisters at oneend of the drum and omitting the stay wire feeders which alternatetherewith. Fig. 29 is a detail view of one of the looper supporting barsdetached. Fig. 30 is a detail sectional view of one of the stay wirefeeding mechanisms. Fig. 31 is a bottom plan view thereof. Fig. 32 is asectional elevation of one of the twisters and its associated stay wirecutting and deflecting devices. Fig. 33 is an elevation of thesubject-matter of Fig. 32 viewed from a position at right anglesthereto. Fig. 3 1 is a detail view of the head beam and one of thecutter operating cams. Fig. 35 is a detail end view of a twister. Fig.36 is a detail perspective view of one of the fixed center guidesemployed in connection with the twisters. Fig. 37 is an end view of oneof the looper supporting bars, and Figs. 38 and 39 are detail views of agroup of crimping pins.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of the machine, it may bewell to refer, by way of premise, to its general organization in orderthat the relation of the various groups of mechanisms may be betterunderstood. The machine, considered as a whole, is of rotary type, allofthe primary elements thereof having rotary motion which facilitatestheir restoration for the successive performance of their severalfunctions without the jar incident to the stopping and starting ofreciprocating elements, and without necessitating lost retractilemovements.

The line wires are led around a rotary weaving drum from a suitablesource of SL113". ply, the drum and wires-moving together to accomplishthe weaving in transit, and the finished fabric having connection with apower driven feed drum continuously operating to maintain the feed ofthe wires around the drum and the delivery of the completed fabric to asuitable reel. Extending across the periphery of the drum areequidistant series of line wire loopers, corresponding loopers of theseveral series extending circumferentially around the drum and operatingto loop a moving line wire at predetermined intervals.

The loops formed in the several line wires are coincident, and at theproper time in the rotation of the drum, suitable feeding mechanism isbrought into play for the purpose of feeding a stay wire across the drumand through the loops of the line wires from a stay wire spool, a spooland feed device being arranged opposite each series of loopers andpreferably, though not necessarily, alternating at opposite ends of thedrum in the interest of economy of space.

In addition to the line wire loopers and stay wire spools and feedersthe drum is equipped with automatically operating means for severing thestays from the wires after they have been properly fed through the linewire loops, and also with stay wire twisters located beyond the ends ofeach series of line wire loopers and associated with stay wiredeflecting devices. These deflecting devices insure the properengagement of the extremities of the stay by a pair of twisters whichoperate at the proper time to twist the ends of the stay around themargin wires of the fabric, which latter are crimped by crimpingmechanism mounted below the and 4 suitably connected by tie-rods 5 anddrum adjacent to the wire receiving side thereof. It should be borne inmind that all of these devices operate to perform their recitedfunctions during the movement ofthe drum and line wires in unison, itbeing observed that, as a given point of the wire travels with the drumduring an extended arc of movement, the several recited mechanisms aregiven ample time to perform their recited functions in the proper orderwithout necessitating their operation at high speed.

The stay wires, having been passed through the line wire loops and twited upon the margin wires, the fabric will be completed so far as thisgiven point or portion thereof is concerned, except that the line andstay wires will not have been intertwisted at their points ofintersection. In this condition the fabric is delivered from the drum,but since it is engaged at an advanced point by the power operated feeddrum, it will be incidentally placed under sufficient tension to drawout the line wire loops and to intertwist the stay and line wires, whichis the final step in the manufacture of the fabric.

Each group of devices concerned in the affixing of a stay to the linewires constitutes a weaving set and as these sets are disposed in acircumferential series around the periphery of the drum, and ascorresponding functions are performed by each of the several sets at thesame points of their travel around the axis of the drum, it follows thatwithin that are of travel during which the line wires are looped and thestays applied, a number of weaving sets will be located. Furthermore,each of these sets will be in progressively different positions from'the receiving to the delivering end of the are, so that, at the severalpoints defined by the locations of the sets, the fabric will be indifferent stages of completion. Thus, while the entire active arc of thedrum is consumed in the application of a single stay, a completelyaflixed stay will be delivered from the drum as many times in a singleoperation of the latter as there are weaving sets in operation, each seteffecting the attachment of one stay to the line wires during eachrotation of the drum.

Like characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughoutthe views.

The general arrangement of the primary machine cZcmc nts.The supportingstructure of the machine, while susceptible of wide variation, is shownas comprising front and rear frames 1 and 2, the frame 2 serving tosupport the weaving drum and the front frame 1 having supported thereonor associated therewith the instrumentalities concerned in directing theline wires to the weaving drum and in the proper feeding and storage ofthe completed fabric. The frame 1 comprises a pair of side castings 3equipped with suitable bearings for the shafts of a feed drum 6, atension roll 7 lo cated above the drum, and a reel 8 preferably located,as shown in Fig. 4, at the upper front corner of the frame 1. Adjacentto the bottom of the frame 1 is disposed a transverse guide bar 9,constituting an abutment for the line wire spools 1,0 and formed withopenings 11 through which are passed and guided the several line wires,which term is intended to comprehend all of the wires extendinglongitudinally of the fabric and including both the margin wires a andthe intermediate line wires 1).

At the lower rear corner of the frame 1 is located a fixed guide 12 forthe margin wires a which, after passing therethrough, are extendedrespectively between crimping rolls 13 and 14 arranged in pairs, asshown in Fig. 5. From the crimping rolls the margin wires a extend tothe drum and around a portion of the periphery of the latter, as will bepresently explained. The guide 12 for the margin wires is preferably inthe form of a channel bar serving as an element of a rigid connectionbetween the front and rear machine frames. Adjacent to the guide 12 twotransverse shafts 15 and 16 are mounted in the frame 1 for the supportof two series of guide rolls 17 and 18 located in different horizontaland vertical planes, as clearly shown in Fig. t, and peripherallygrooved. The end rolls of the lower series assist in guiding the marginwires a, while the remaining rolls of both series receive and guide theintermediate wires 5, which are thus caused to pass to the lower side ofthe drum in a plane tangential to its periphery.

The weaving drum, indicated as a whole by 19, is mounted to rotateloosely on a fixed drum shaft 20 having its opposite ends retainedbetween clamping members 21 and 22 for the reception of which seats 23are pro vided in the side castings 2 1 of the rear frame 2. In advanceof the seat 23 the side castings 2st of the rear frame are extendedvertically to a point above the plane of the drum and are connected by atransverse head beam 25, which not only serves to connect the sidecastings of the rear frame, but also constitutes a. support for a pairof cutter operating cams, as will appear hereafter.

.is withdrawn by the feed drum 6, and, after

